DEMAIO CITES WASTE; CRITICS DISPUTE CLAIMS

San Diego 
City Councilman Carl DeMaio, one of four major candidates for San Diego mayor, said Tuesday the city budget has more than $130 million in wasteful spending that could be eliminated immediately to help repair roads.

DeMaio, a Republican, essentially compiled a greatest-hits list of issues he’s raised since he first took office in 2008. He said the city could save $26 million annually by slicing overtime pay in half, $30 million by eliminating a controversial retirement benefit and $11 million by fully implementing managed competition of certain city services, among other things.

DeMaio held up an air filter to prove his point about government inefficiency. He provided invoices that showed it cost $8.61 in stores, but the city bought it through a contractor for $39.35.

“By not eliminating the waste, we have less money available for services,” DeMaio said.

Darren Pudgil, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders, said DeMaio’s assertions are misleading. He said many of the facts used by DeMaio are outdated. For example, the city discovered the markup on a dozen air filters last year and stopped buying from that vendor.

“The Mayor’s Office could spend more time correcting and clarifying every deceitful claim that comes from this mayoral candidate, but we simply have higher priorities,” Pudgil said.